A “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner” of a character has proven irresistible to film and TV actors for decades, as star after star has taken on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in screen adaptations of A Christmas Carol.
Some of these filmed versions played it faithful to Charles Dickens’ Victorian-era novella; others transferred the action to contemporary times and even turned Ebenezer into Ebbie, Ebony, or Ebenita. But they all gave a miserable misanthrope a crash course in the Christmas spirit. Here are our favorite portrayals.